Saluting the space shuttle for a job well done (editorial)

The space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center July 8, 2011. Atlantis was the 135th and final space shuttle launch for NASA. (AP Photo/Tim Donnelly)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama _ Thursday's predawn landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis marked a storied end to a remarkable spaceship with an even more remarkable trail of achievements.

For 30 years, space shuttles have hurled more than 350 astronauts from 20 countries into orbit to launch satellites, deploy and repair deep-space telescopes, assemble the International Space Station, and perform cutting edge research.

It seems like only yesterday that the rocket-turned-glider Columbia swooped back to Earth on its maiden flight. Few who followed that historic April 1981 mission will forget the awesome launch and the picture-perfect touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base - its underbelly seared from the fiery re-entry into the atmosphere.

And when pilot Robert Crippen and commander John Young bounded out of the orbiter to marvel at NASA's new reusable space vehicle, the world witnessed a space milestone not seen since Americans walked on the moon.

Over the next three decades, shuttles would make the round trip again and again. Of 135 flights, only two shuttles were lost: Challenger just moments after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia during re-entry in 2003. While the loss of those 14 astronauts

remains devastating, their deaths were not in vain.

Investigations ensued. Procedures were scrutinized. Design changes were made. While NASA ran into bureaucratic hurdles - compounded with each new change in administrations - the shuttle program pressed on.

Was it expensive? Absolutely. Some estimates put the program's total price tag at $100 billion.

But think about what we got in return. The shuttles and crew greatly expanded our knowledge about the Earth, our universe, the sun and beyond. Satellites carried into space by shuttles have vastly improved our military surveillance, telecommunication and mapping capabilities.

Living in the weightless environment of space laid the groundwork for what future space farers will need to know to build a lunar base or for lengthy trips to places like Mars. Science experiments on the sprawling International Space Station have led to impressive discoveries in the fields of medicine, technology and materials processing. Spinoffs from the space shuttle program are too numerous to mention. A few worth noting are breakthroughs in life-saving pharmaceuticals, artificial heart improvements, sophisticated mapping systems, nutritional discoveries, infrared cameras, heat shield technology used by NASCAR and in insulation materials, and vehicle tracking systems.

As important as the space shuttle program has been over the past three decades, it has never elicited the excitement or following as did the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions of the 1960s and early 1970s. The biggest reason is perhaps the most ironic: the correlation of the space race with the Cold War.

With Russia no longer a threat - and in fact, now as partners on the International Space Station - the rush for U.S. space superiority doesn't translate to the same level of competition that culminated with the triumphant 1969 moon landing. With the space shuttle program now in retirement and no American replacement space vehicle, the U.S. must rely on its Russian comrades for trips into space.

President Obama wants NASA to design a heavy-lift rocket for manned trips to an asteroid and eventually to Mars. He tasked the private sector to design rockets for low-Earth orbit voyages to the space station.

It took only eight years between the time Alan Shepard became the first American in space in 1961 and the first man on the moon in 1969. Given all of our space know-how, America can meet those challenges if citizens rekindle that Apollo spirit and Washington responds with a clear mandate and an adequate budget.

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin once said exploration is not only a part of our destiny but our "duty to future generations" in their quest to ensure the survival of the human species.